Affair

It snowed harder as fluffy snow descended down upon the surface of the water and disappeared. The sky got darker as well. They then heard the boatman speak, "We’ve reached Shigu Island."

Pei Zi Yun went out of his cabin and walked towards the deck, where he noticed everything was white. He could see the island, which was still some distance away. At once he ordered for them to dock.

When the boat had stopped, Pei Zi Yun looked ahead before he ordered, "Go around the island again."

"Yes!"

This island was conical shape. Since the weather conditions were poor, with visibility being affected, they were trying to avoid crashing into rocks. Some distance away, trees and shrubs could be seen. However, everything was mostly covered in snow. The boat crew carefully avoided the rocks nearby. Since it was dark as well, this wasn’t easy.

Pei Zi Yun swept a glance across the island. He was comparing what he saw and his memories.

"The gold should’ve sunk somewhere which was accessible to boats for easy retrieval. That means the places where it could be are narrowed down to a few, underwater. "

"Head south-west for another 500m and stay near the shore." Pei Zi Yun ordered, "Retrieve the ropes."

Following his orders, the boat drifted in that direction. At this point, a pair of crewmen retrieved the ropes and brought it forward. Pei Zi Yun looked at the ten crewmembers before him, "There’s a sunken boat somewhere around here. That’s the objective."

The boat crew men were all shivering as one of them spoke out, "Young master, it's freezing out here and the water is almost frozen. Even drinking wouldn’t help with the cold if we were to dive in."

Pei Zi Yun stretched out a hand, as snowflakes landed on it. He laughed, "Not you."

He then looked at He Qing Qing, "I’m going under. If any of these men make a move, kill them."

"Yes, Young Master." He Qing Qing then waved a hand as all the mountainous people drew their blades in unison as they expressed their ferocity. She thought for some time before asking, "Why don’t we go instead?"

"You won’t be able to take it as well. The waters would be too cold."

He then pointed at a tank which had been prepared. A rope was attached to the tank, and could be reeled in. He dropped the tank into the sea, and watched it sink in no time.

"Young master, the water isn’t deep. At most 10 meters."

Pei Zi Yun then pointed, "Watch the rope. As soon as I shake you, pull it up."

"Qing Qing, pull it up and bring it into my cabin."

When he finished speaking, he stopped hesitating and jumped into the sea. Immediately ripples formed across the surface and water splashed up. The snow continued and the waters were freezing cold. Pei Zi Yun gritted his teeth as he started to look around, and put the freezing temperature at the back of his mind.

Beneath the surface of the water, there was a strong undercurrent and he could feel it pushing against his body. Under the freezing cold water, he could see several multicolored fish.

Down below, several meters deeper, he saw a boat. Pei Zi Yun was extremely excited at such a sight. This was the lost treasure of the previous dynasty. Back then, the Emperor probably assumed that he would be able to mount a comeback, and thus hid this large amount of gold for future use. Hence, he decided to sink it in shallow waters so that they would be able to retrieve it easily.

At this point, Pei Zi Yun felt slightly suffocated as he channeled air around his body, buying himself a little more time. He trudged forward eagerly without hesitation, when he saw several skeletal remains of humans.

"These were the people who had been killed!"

After he made two rounds, he realized that the boat wasn’t wrecked or damaged. Holes were intentionally made so that it would sink. The main cabin was sealed shut. He drew his sword and pried his way in.

Having been underwater for many years, the door broke open without much effort. When he entered the cabin, he saw several wooden chests.

These wooden chests were made out of quality wood, and were extremely tough. He pried open one, and saw rows of gold bars. The gold bars were inscribed with the official seal. Indeed, these gold bars were worth a hundred gold taels per bar.

Pei Zi Yun hesitated no longer as he dragged a single chest into the tank.

Gold was extremely heavy. Each wooden chest was very small, and the tank was rather broad. Hence, he could place ten chests within the tank. However, he couldn’t take being underwater without oxygen any longer and shook the rope violently, and felt it being dragged up at once.

Ten meters wasn’t very long, and the tank was hauled up within seconds. As soon as the tank left the water, it took some time to get it onboard the boat, since it was extremely heavy.

"A box had twenty bars. Ten boxes would have 200 bars. That was 200,000 taels of gold!" Several seconds later, Pei Zi Yun’s head emerged from the water as well, but didn’t leave the freezing sea. Since he was still in the water, he realized he could still manage the temperature. Once he left it however, it would be extremely cold.

"Hurry take the boxes into the cabin and lower the tank down once more!" Pei Zi Yun ordered as he floated in the water.

He Qing Qing hurriedly ordered for the rest of them to take out the ten boxes before lowering the tank again. The wooden boxes were then shifted into the cabin. At this point, the boat crew were looking at each other, giving strange expressions.

Only the Lumen Mountain Tribe villagers looked extremely normal. There was a total of six tanks which had been pulled up. Most of them were much lighter after the first, since they contained ornaments and other precious stones instead of the heavier gold bars.

Just like that, Pei Zi Yun remained in the water for over two hours. Although his physical body had been trained to its peak, he was still extremely cold, his face was pale as he shivered violently.

However, they had prepared hot water for him, and cooked hot bowls of soup. Pei Zi Yun didn’t even get a chance to admire the treasure. After having his meal, he fell into a deep sleep.

On the afternoon of the next day, the sun rose as the rays of light shone down upon the boat, which gave it some warmth. At this point, the boat had already begun its voyage back. Pei Zi Yun then headed to the cabin and opened the door and was shocked.

He saw that the wooden shelf which he had prepared were filled with gold bars.

"I’ve already recorded it all. We have 1300 bars gold worth 130,000 taels."

"Also, there are jade seals, gold plated books, antiques, and other items I do not recognize." He Qing Qing didn’t sleep the entire night. Although she was tired, she looked excited as her face blushed scarlet, "Years ago when we killed the other mountain tribes and took their possessions, we didn’t even have this much gold."

"Hm, this is the last dynasty’s accumulated wealth." Pei Zi Yun had already estimated its value even before he took it out. When he heard the total figure was 130,000 he was slightly disappointed and laughed at himself for being greedy.

The land tax received per year for the dynasty amounted up to 1,000 taels of silver. Salt tax amounted up to 700 taels of silver and other taxes combined was worth 2,000,000 taels of silver. The country’s entire profits for the year was only 40,000,000 taels of silver. And now this gold which he had in his possession was worth up to 130,000 taels!

And he could still complain that it wasn’t enough?

"However according to the rumors, there was 300,000 taels or even 500,000 taels. Then again, rumors always tend to exaggerate the amount. Besides I’ve already seen the financial reports of the previous dynasty. The entire Imperial Family only had several hundred thousand taels in assets. The Crown Prince only had 20,000 taels of silver a year. This 130,000 taels of silver is enough for me to survive for 100 lifetimes!"

Thinking up to this point, Pei Zi Yun stopped smiling. "When we return to the pier, do not stop there for too long. Head straight to Golden Island, and wait for me to contact you."

"Yes!" He Qing Qing acknowledged.

However, Pei Zi Yun was extremely relieved and pleased. In actual fact, he didn’t care for this much wealth. As it was, he was already very comfortable. However, he wanted this money to be stashed away in Golden Island for the foreseeable future.

The most important thing to him wasn’t actually the gold, it was the other items.

Looking at it, Pei Zi Yun shook his head. This gold-plated seal was used for conferring titles and was a representation of the Emperor’s authority.

If this was still in the era of the previous dynasty, the seal would be glimmering a radiant gold. However, it was faded at this point, having lost its use for years. A faint glow of Imperial Qi could still be seen on it though.

"But it was a very faint shade of red." It looked very strange, but was useless for Pei Zi Yun, who tossed it aside.

"The only value in such a precious item from the previous dynasty would be as a memento, without any use. In fact, the possession of such item might even invite trouble."

"And yet it would be such a shame to throw something of such great value. Maybe I will create a stone cabinet and store it within."

After he searched desperately, he finally found a pearl and heaved a sigh of relief, "After searching through everything, I’ve finally found a Legacy but I don’t know who left it behind."

"I’m tired now, maybe I’ll absorb it at a later time."

After they traveled for half a day, they arrived at the capital city’s pier once again. As soon as the boat inched towards the pier, everyone disembarked. The boat didn’t stop however as it turned around and left immediately towards Golden Island.

Pei Zi Yun was extremely tired as he held onto the pearl. He hopped onto an oxcart, gave the address, and fell asleep while on the way.

As they rushed back towards the mansion, it was already afternoon, and it snowed once again. From some distance away, there was the sound of someone as they sung. As he listened closely, he realized that it was Ren Wei, who looked rather uncomfortable.

Pei Zi Yun laughed, "What is it? Aren’t you comfortable here? Or was there a problem with the business?"

He then looked around, "The place looks very neatly cleaned, why is there an additional horse here? And about the business, even if you lose a little money, it’s fine."

Ren Wei sighed before speaking, "Young Master, the Crown Prince has sent someone here. It’s urgent."

Pei Zi Yun’s smile vanished from his face. He then turned around to see an official, whom he recognized. The official’s face was downcast. Pei Zi Yun hurriedly asked him, "What’s the matter? Why do you look this way? Has something happened?"

The official replied with a heavy tone, "Dao Master, something has happened to the Crown Prince. I was sent here by the Imperial Concubine, but you weren’t here. Thankfully I haven’t waited very long."

Pei Zi Yun frowned before he replied, "Don’t panic. Tell me exactly what happened."

"Yes!"

The official calmed himself down before he spoke, "It’s been said a servant from the Crown Prince mansion visited a monastery in the city. As she knelt down before the statues, she said that the Crown Prince was having an affair with an Emperor’s Concubine. A Daoist overheard this and informed the Emperor."

"The Emperor was furious and insisted the Prince make his way to the Imperial Palace to explain himself."

"Hence, the Crown Prince had no choice but to go. The Imperial Concubine instructed me to come here to inform you."

When Pei Zi Yun heard this, he was stumped. He then thought about the incident regarding the aphrodisiac from the previous life. According to his memories, a servant went to pray and offer incense when a Daoist overheard the conversation she had with the fortune teller. Likewise, the Emperor heard about this and searched the Crown Prince, where he was found to possess a strange substance. Everyone assumed it was poison, but it was actually an aphrodisiac.

At that point, the Emperor was extremely furious, and eliminated the Crown Prince of all powers.

Just thinking about this was a joke. Firstly, the rumor was that the Crown Prince had an affair. Something which was supposed to be held in high secrecy was found out by a mere servant?

Then, why would this servant run all the way to the monastery and reveal something of such high importance?

And although this White Wind Monastery was the biggest monastery in the capital city and had relations with the Imperial Court, a Daoist was still a Daoist, why would he speak with the Emperor and inform him?

When the Emperor gave the Crown Prince a chance to explain himself, why would the Crown Prince be so foolish to carry an aphrodisiac with him? While explaining himself to the Emperor he would actually bring along his aphrodisiac?

Besides, why would the Emperor eliminate the Crown Prince over just a woman?

Unless the Empress or Grand Princess were the women involved, if not, such punishments wouldn’t ensue as a result of the actions of a women.

Besides, in the previous life, the Crown Prince didn’t have an heir, hence the Emperor didn’t hesitate in eliminating him.

"What about now?"

"Probably not, but it was a huge blow to the Crown Prince. All the positive steps taken had just been wasted."

"There’s someone really influential within King Lu’s Mansion" Pei Zi Yun thought to himself before standing up, "Where’s the Crown Prince now?"

"There are some rules about the Crown Prince when he travels. It’s been an hour since I came out, which means he’s probably at Sky Street now." The official pondered before he replied.

Pei Zi Yun paused as he calculated the time to reach Sky Street, "We can still make it!"

As he finished speaking he turned around. Once they found the official’s horse, they gave it a whip as they sped off through the gates.